Bitter Black
by Chappy-the-Bunny
Summary: How a brutally cold day can turn bitter in the blink of an eye.


**Bitter Black**

The snow fell silently and softly, much as was always its pattern. Strange regarding how its sister, rain, had such a distinctive noise, one that could either be dainty or disastrous. Yes, but snow, as quiet as it may be, brought about such excitement in the hearts of many and most, young and old. With all of that being said, Izaya Orihara still despised such weather. He claimed it to be far too cold for his humans—as well as himself—and would spend evenings wrapped about in layers upon layers of sheets and sweaters. This evening was no different, however, he had a guest.

"If you're so cold," Shizuo Heiwajima sighed, stripping himself of his coat and scarf, "why don't you raise the thermostat, huh?"

"It is raised, Shizu-chan," Izaya hissed from beneath his blankets. "I've already set it to thirty."

"Are you a snake or something?" he chuckled, walking over to sit next to his caterpillar-of-a-boyfriend.

Izaya inched away from him and scoffed, saying, "Quit making fun of me, will you? You know that I have poor circulation."

"I know, I know. Why don't you make yourself some coffee, then?" Shizuo suggested. "Warm beverages warm up the body."

"You're starting to sound like a doctor."

Regardless, Izaya stood up and cast away his multitude of comforters, only to shiver at the touch of lukewarm air. He rubbed his arms and padded his way over to the kitchen. He knew that he didn't want to admit to it, but Shizuo was right. How come he hadn't thought of making himself coffee before? He'd been drinking tea all of this time, but there was something about the robust beverage that really did spice up the soul.

Setting up his coffee machine and pot that were rarely ever used, Izaya plugged the cord into the outlet upon the wall and began searching his cabinets high and low for coffee beans. He counted himself lucky when he had actually found a wintery blend that hadn't hit its expiration yet.

"Do you want a cup, too?" Izaya asked, figuring it would be best to be gracious and provide an offer. After all, he _was_ the host.

"Sure, but make sure you add a bunch of sugar and cream and stuff," Shizuo responded. He had turned on the television in Izaya's absence and was now mindlessly watching the weather program for any new updates with the storm.

"What a child," Izaya whispered just beneath his breath.

"What was that?"

"I was just saying that I hope this storm stays mild," Izaya countered, pleased with himself for coming up with such a witty remark in no time flat. Had Shizuo developed his hearing recently, or something? It left Izaya baffled and amused at the same time.

Watching the black-brown liquid drip into the coffee pot as it was filtered, Izaya closed his eyes and inhaled the sweet scent contently. It had been so long since he had indulged himself in the simplicity of a cup of coffee. With the holidays just around the corner, he had been working around the clock just to keep up with everything and anyone. Although coffee would have seemed to have been a means of keeping him going in the morning, black teas were his only solace.

Izaya gathered two cups and placed them gingerly upon the counter. Looking into his fridge, which of course he already knew did not contain cream nor sugar, he went through the motions before pulling out a bottle of soy sauce. Shizuo was fully enthralled with his television program, which had now been switched to one of those drama-mongering reality shows. He wouldn't be paying attention to Izaya at a time like this. No, of course not.

Filling both cups to the near brim, saving room in Shizuo's for some milk and mystery, Izaya knew that he had better wipe the snide grin that was plastered on his face off promptly or else he would be a dead giveaway.

After finishing with the preparation of their coffees—black for Izaya and a time bomb for Shizuo—he unplugged his machine and bid it farewell, wondering just when would be the next time that he would come to use it.

"Did something happen?" Shizuo asked, still not even bothering to shed Izaya a glance.

"Why do you ask that, Shizu-chan?" Izaya inquired, curious as to why his boyfriend would wonder such a thing.

"I d'unno. It just took you a while, that's all."

Sliding him his concoction-of-a-cup, Izaya wrapped himself back up into his cocoon and waited with patience for Shizuo to take his very first—and probably very last—sip.

Shizuo rose the lip of his mug to his mouth, pausing for a moment to blow down and make sure the temperature was fit for consumption. Izaya could feel himself leaning forward with interest, but he tried to keep his expression as neutral as possible.

The look of absolute disgust that littered Shizuo's face was one-hundred percent worth coffee-stained covers and carpets. The moment his coffee had met his taste buds, Shizuo spewed the liquid like some sort of water hose.

"The Hell, Izaya?! What did you put in here?!" he shouted.

Izaya, however, was too busy laughing uncontrollably. His body twitched with the sensation and his bones rumbled about with enthusiasm. Able to compose himself for just a moment, he reeled over and stated, "Soy sauce."

Shizuo could feel the anger building and bubbling within his chest, but all was soon forgotten when an idea of his own came to mind. Lifting his mug up for one more drink, Shizuo made sure to pact his cheeks with as much of the vile viscosity as he could before grabbing Izaya's giddy-grinning face and pressing their lips together with a force that even he found uncomfortable.

Izaya began to squirm beneath Shizuo's hold, but it was no use. It was obvious who the stronger one was between the two of them; physically, at least.

Moving one of his hands downward, Shizuo ran his fingers along the expanse of Izaya's ribcage. It wasn't a surprise when Izaya's eyes had widened, his mouth opening with habitual protest. However, that was just what Shizuo had wanted. Izaya couldn't believe it, but he had actually fallen for one of that brute's tricks.

The taste was unbearable. It was so bad that Izaya could feel his stomach churning upon collision with the corrupted coffee. It took all of the strength within his esophagus to do so, but with a hardy swallow, he groaned and bit Shizuo's lower lip so hard that even _he_ tasted blood.

Wincing and drawing back from the kiss immediately, Shizuo placed a finger to his lip and held it up to be viewed. Yup, he was bleeding.

Finding that such a question necessarily needed to be asked, Shizuo bellowed, "Why did you even do that in the first place?!"

"Because you were making fun of me."

"Is that any reason to put soy sauce in someone else's coffee?!"

With a nod and a nudge, Izaya ghosted his lips along the beginnings of Shizuo's collar bone, before whispering, "It's the perfect reason."

* * *

_Hello, everyone! Chappy here! :D_

_This is a bit of a change of pace for me, because this fanfiction is actually a prompt for a DRRR Secret Santa event!_

_I'm not used to having to write off of prompts, so honestly, it was a bit hard to come up with an idea what would work with these two, but I really do hope that it's enjoyable. (:_

_Anyways, as always, thank you for taking the time to read!_

_- Chappy (:_


End file.
